Netanyahu proves not "only a Nixon could go to China"
By Moshe Phillips
From February 21 to 28, 1972 President Richard Nixon visited Communist China and forever changed the geopolitical landscape of our planet.
The phrase "'Only a Nixon' Could Go to China" was used in a December 1971 issue of U.S. News & World Report and has come to mean only a hardliner can do take such steps.
Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu has now gone to China too. And has proven himself yet again to be a pragmatist and not a political conservative.
This year, Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, was observed on Tuesday evening, May 7th through Wednesday evening, May 8th. The holiday celebrated the 46th anniversary of the reunification of Judaism's holiest city.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was not in Israel for Yom Yerushalayim this year, he was visiting China. Can one imagine a U.S. president being abroad for Independence Day or Memorial Day?
What is even more alarming about this is the timing of Netanyahu's trip. Mahmoud Abbas was there just hours before Netanyahu arrived. President Xi Jinping during talks with Mahmoud Abbas called for "The establishment of independent state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, with full sovereignty ..." (See: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=60889.) Through the concurrent timing of the state visits Beijing sought to render Abbas and Netanyahu as equals on the diplomatic chess board and Netanyahu allowed it to happen.
Immediately after the Old City was recaptured by Israeli forces in 1967 Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, the leading Religious Zionist leader of his era, told news reporters "We announce to all of Israel, and to all of the world, that by a Divine command, we have returned to our home, to our holy city. From this day forth, we shall never budge from here! We have come home!"
What was Rabbi Kook speaking about if not East Jerusalem?
Netanyahu should have taken China to task for its support of a divided Jerusalem and repeating Rabbi Kook's words to the world when he does it.
Why was Netanyahu in China for Yom Yerushalayim? Why would he meet with enemies of Jerusalem on this day?
Is it because he wanted to discuss the Iranian threat with Chinese leaders?
Netanyahu draws a dangerous distinction between the Iranian enemy (and their Hamas and Hezbollah surrogates) and the PLO/Palestinian National Authority/Fatah enemy. If Netanyahu actually believes that simply because their strategies and public rhetoric are different, that one of these enemies can be negotiated with, then he is drinking his own Kool-Aid. If he believes he can rip China's support away from Fatah he is horribly mistaken.
Let's again refer to the Chinese government's press release from Abbas's visit: "Xi Jinping said that more than half a century, the Chinese people and the Palestinian people is always mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual support, good friends, good partners and good brothers..."
Now, let's go back to Nixon.
By 1972 President Nixon completely changed American policy on China. It took just 14 years for the U.S. orientation to be completely reversed. More amazing is how this about face transpired and under whose watch.
Nixon had been Eisenhower's vice-president. Ten years after Ike's military brass sought a nuclear option to confront Red China, Nixon was elected president and the United States was fighting against communists in Vietnam.
In July 1971, Nixon dispatched Henry Kissinger to Beijing where he met with Chairman Mao. The die was cast. It should not be forgotten that Kissinger also sought to encourage Nixon to abandon Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
In October 1971 the UN General Assembly voted to give the Chinese seat to the People's Republic of China ("Red China"). The Chinese permanent seat (one of just five permanent members) on the UN Security Council went to Red China as well.
By 1972 Nixon had normalized U.S. relations with Red China. Before this reversal Nixon had been perceived throughout his political career to be a staunch anti-communist. Then Nixon visited Beijing in February 1972.
Nixon's Republican administration abandoned the Republic of China on Taiwan and the world followed. Every year since 1992, the Chinese on Taiwan have petitioned for UN membership and their request has been denied. Similarly, the UN has singled out Israel for more criticism than any other nation.
Communist China has of course been no friend of Israel in the UN and has supported Israel's enemies through its powerful position on the Security Council. China was the first non-Islamic country to officially recognize the PLO.
In the aftermath of Beijing's win at the UN, Arafat was infamously invited to address the UN in 1974. It must be noted that Arafat was invited to address the UN when Kurt Waldheim was its Secretary-General.
Arafat was first invited to China in March 1964. He went to Beijing 14 times; his last visit was in August 2001. Arafat and Fatah reciprocated Red China's support. Alliances were stuck between Fatah and Red China's other terrorist clients. Most notoriously Arafat praised Beijing's bloody response to the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
The mainstream media paid little attention in August 2009 when Israel sent much needed aid to Taiwan in response to the deadliest typhoon to hit the Chinese island nation in its history. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Raphael Gamzou, director of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, explained that Taiwan's people "are incredibly friendly to Israel... [and] this expression of solidarity of the government and people of Israel will strengthen friendly sentiments."
In the Obama era especially, Israel should seek to strengthen ties with those nations like Taiwan that are "incredibly friendly to Israel."
The pro-Israel community in the United States can do much to confront China on Jerusalem. The late Senator Jesse Helms wrote in 1996 that "Israel is the only nation in the world denied the right to choose its own capital. This second class citizenship among nations must end."
Now is the time for American friends of Israel to apply more pressure on the Obama Administration to move the U.S. embassy. The U.S. government has failed to relocate the American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv for over far too long. The Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on October 23, 1995 and the law reads that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999."
"For Zion's sake I am not silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I do not rest," reads Isaiah 62:1. For Jerusalem's sake contact your Congressman today and demand that the Jerusalem Embassy Act be honored.
© Moshe Phillips
May 10, 2013
From February 21 to 28, 1972 President Richard Nixon visited Communist China and forever changed the geopolitical landscape of our planet.
The phrase "'Only a Nixon' Could Go to China" was used in a December 1971 issue of U.S. News & World Report and has come to mean only a hardliner can do take such steps.
Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu has now gone to China too. And has proven himself yet again to be a pragmatist and not a political conservative.
This year, Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, was observed on Tuesday evening, May 7th through Wednesday evening, May 8th. The holiday celebrated the 46th anniversary of the reunification of Judaism's holiest city.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was not in Israel for Yom Yerushalayim this year, he was visiting China. Can one imagine a U.S. president being abroad for Independence Day or Memorial Day?
What is even more alarming about this is the timing of Netanyahu's trip. Mahmoud Abbas was there just hours before Netanyahu arrived. President Xi Jinping during talks with Mahmoud Abbas called for "The establishment of independent state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, with full sovereignty ..." (See: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=60889.) Through the concurrent timing of the state visits Beijing sought to render Abbas and Netanyahu as equals on the diplomatic chess board and Netanyahu allowed it to happen.
Immediately after the Old City was recaptured by Israeli forces in 1967 Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, the leading Religious Zionist leader of his era, told news reporters "We announce to all of Israel, and to all of the world, that by a Divine command, we have returned to our home, to our holy city. From this day forth, we shall never budge from here! We have come home!"
What was Rabbi Kook speaking about if not East Jerusalem?
Netanyahu should have taken China to task for its support of a divided Jerusalem and repeating Rabbi Kook's words to the world when he does it.
Why was Netanyahu in China for Yom Yerushalayim? Why would he meet with enemies of Jerusalem on this day?
Is it because he wanted to discuss the Iranian threat with Chinese leaders?
Netanyahu draws a dangerous distinction between the Iranian enemy (and their Hamas and Hezbollah surrogates) and the PLO/Palestinian National Authority/Fatah enemy. If Netanyahu actually believes that simply because their strategies and public rhetoric are different, that one of these enemies can be negotiated with, then he is drinking his own Kool-Aid. If he believes he can rip China's support away from Fatah he is horribly mistaken.
Let's again refer to the Chinese government's press release from Abbas's visit: "Xi Jinping said that more than half a century, the Chinese people and the Palestinian people is always mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual support, good friends, good partners and good brothers..."
Now, let's go back to Nixon.
By 1972 President Nixon completely changed American policy on China. It took just 14 years for the U.S. orientation to be completely reversed. More amazing is how this about face transpired and under whose watch.
Nixon had been Eisenhower's vice-president. Ten years after Ike's military brass sought a nuclear option to confront Red China, Nixon was elected president and the United States was fighting against communists in Vietnam.
In July 1971, Nixon dispatched Henry Kissinger to Beijing where he met with Chairman Mao. The die was cast. It should not be forgotten that Kissinger also sought to encourage Nixon to abandon Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
In October 1971 the UN General Assembly voted to give the Chinese seat to the People's Republic of China ("Red China"). The Chinese permanent seat (one of just five permanent members) on the UN Security Council went to Red China as well.
By 1972 Nixon had normalized U.S. relations with Red China. Before this reversal Nixon had been perceived throughout his political career to be a staunch anti-communist. Then Nixon visited Beijing in February 1972.
Nixon's Republican administration abandoned the Republic of China on Taiwan and the world followed. Every year since 1992, the Chinese on Taiwan have petitioned for UN membership and their request has been denied. Similarly, the UN has singled out Israel for more criticism than any other nation.
Communist China has of course been no friend of Israel in the UN and has supported Israel's enemies through its powerful position on the Security Council. China was the first non-Islamic country to officially recognize the PLO.
In the aftermath of Beijing's win at the UN, Arafat was infamously invited to address the UN in 1974. It must be noted that Arafat was invited to address the UN when Kurt Waldheim was its Secretary-General.
Arafat was first invited to China in March 1964. He went to Beijing 14 times; his last visit was in August 2001. Arafat and Fatah reciprocated Red China's support. Alliances were stuck between Fatah and Red China's other terrorist clients. Most notoriously Arafat praised Beijing's bloody response to the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
The mainstream media paid little attention in August 2009 when Israel sent much needed aid to Taiwan in response to the deadliest typhoon to hit the Chinese island nation in its history. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Raphael Gamzou, director of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, explained that Taiwan's people "are incredibly friendly to Israel... [and] this expression of solidarity of the government and people of Israel will strengthen friendly sentiments."
In the Obama era especially, Israel should seek to strengthen ties with those nations like Taiwan that are "incredibly friendly to Israel."
The pro-Israel community in the United States can do much to confront China on Jerusalem. The late Senator Jesse Helms wrote in 1996 that "Israel is the only nation in the world denied the right to choose its own capital. This second class citizenship among nations must end."
Now is the time for American friends of Israel to apply more pressure on the Obama Administration to move the U.S. embassy. The U.S. government has failed to relocate the American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv for over far too long. The Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on October 23, 1995 and the law reads that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999."
"For Zion's sake I am not silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I do not rest," reads Isaiah 62:1. For Jerusalem's sake contact your Congressman today and demand that the Jerusalem Embassy Act be honored.
© Moshe Phillips
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
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